Happy Grace
by Kroissant
Summary: After witnessing a sparring session, Annette becomes inspired and determined to change her class. What suddenly spurred her to do this? Luckily for Mercedes, she was able to see through her best friend...resulting in the poor girl to built courage and confess. Simple, right? One-shot. (Fire Emblem: 3 Houses - Annette/Felix)


**Hello, this is Kroissant!**

**In honor of the upcoming release of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I wanted to give it a try with writing fanfiction for the fandom. Another reason I wanted to write this is in response to Annette's latest appearance/biography who was unfortunately overshadowed by the huge announcement of the Nintendo Direct focusing about Sword and Shield. To make it up to her, I would like to dedicate my first fanfiction on Annette, who (along with Ashe), I've dubbed to be the hidden underdogs of the Blue Lions.**

**Other reasons:**  
**1\. Blue Lion House! (my number one)**  
**2\. Felix (thanks to trending post on Tumblr - Felix x everybody)**  
**3\. Making Annette BADASS**

**The title of this fanfic, 'Happy Grace' is a mix of Felix and Annette - Felix meaning 'happy' and Annette being 'grace'**  
**(or dubbing as the chaotic couple for their polar-opposite personalities)**

**Okay, I'll stop talking now!**  
**Enjoy Reading!**

* * *

Sharp and agile, electrifying and formidable.

With a sword at hand, Felix made no hesitation to initiate a powerful strike on his opponent, who was quick to retaliate with their respective weapon of choice. Gripping tightly onto the helm of his blade, the dark-haired man emitted a low grunt as he returned to his battle stance, narrowing his eyes as he patiently waited for the latter to make the first move.

Away from the battlegrounds, their audience was comprised of many students, most notably the big three—the Black Eagles on the right, the Blue Lions in the middle, and the Golden Deer on the opposing left.

Seated on one of the wooden crates was a young female with bright orange hair, observing the spectacle with genuine wonder and leaning a bit forward as her full attention was locked on the two males standing their ground—her housemate, Felix and the representative from the Black Eagles, Ferdinand.

She shaped her hands into clenched fists, unaware how dangerously close she was on the edge of her seat. Something gently pushed her back, startling her in the process. Frightened by this, she motioned her head to discover a familiar face.

"It's almost finished," Mercedes points out, tapping her wrist. "Almost thirty seconds left on the clock,"

Annette gulped, swiftly whirling her head back to focus on the training grounds. Like everyone else, she watched with growing anticipation, her eyes shifting back and forth a few times as she held her breath. "Come on, Felix, come on…" She mumbled to herself, biting her lower lip. "Find an opening…"

As if he'd heard her, the dark-haired man launched the first assault.

Charging in, he pounced on Ferdinand with remarkable agility, and with the swing of his sword, managed to get him to stagger backward, nearly tripping over his own footing. Slightly winded, the redhead brandished his lance in front of him and rushed in, exclaiming a battle cry as he attempted to strike a powerful blow on the smug-looking swordsman.

"Take this!" Ferdinand exclaimed, his voice teeming with boldness.

Flashing a razor smirk, Felix quickened his pace as well, his sword at the ready.

Annette, Mercedes, and the other students watched with bated breath as the sounds of metal clashing against metal pierced their ears, with a few minor grunts and groans in-between.

Collecting her hands together, Annette averted her gaze to their Professor who seemed to be staring at the whole spectacle with a blank expression on her face.

Next to her was Professor Hanneman, a scholar specialized with the study of crests—the instructor assigned for the Golden Deer, and Madam Manuela, a former opera singer, and instructor for the Black Eagles. Judging from their exchanges of disgruntled looks and constant murmuring, it seems they were currently debating about which combatant would be victorious.

"Ann, look!" Mercedes cried, shaking her shoulder to get her attention.

Hearing this, Annette blinked a few times, and as she reverted her attention on the training grounds—it was already too late. The battle had ended with a clear victor, with Felix reigning the stage and Ferdinand who stood there awkwardly, shooting his gaze at his lance below his feet.

A loud whistle erupted, causing all eyes and ears to turn to the direction of the new Professor. "Training is over," Byleth announced, approaching the grounds with her clipped board at hand. Raising her arm forward, she gestured over to her student and announced, "Felix Hugo Fraldarius from the House of Blue Lions is the winner!"

A unanimous round of applause ensued, with Ashe and Sylvain throwing their arms above their heads and bumping their fists together with sheer delight. Annette emitted a burst of laughter, smiling at Mercedes who tipped her head and simply sighed with relief and then to Ingrid, whose calm and composed demeanor was thawed to express a hint of satisfaction.

Looking back at the stage, Annette widened her grin as she watched their Lord Dimitri, leader of the Blue Lions approached his childhood friend, who immediately started boasting over his impressive feat and with knowing looks, conducted their signature handshake, combined with a few fist bumps and pats on the back. Dedue came next, standing close to his superior and silently nodded to the swordsman in acknowledgment.

Annette's gaze lingered on Felix for a moment, smiling to herself as an overwhelming surge of warmth and excitement blossomed inside her.

"…So cool," She uttered lowly under her breath, quite captivated by how naturally he captured the image of a hero…then again, this was to be expected. He was a direct descendant, after all, one who inherited one of the legendary major crests of the heroes.

That idea of a hero, just like the ones from the books that her mother would read to her during her youth excited her—and as childish as it may seem, that was a personal dream of hers which she longed to achieve. Eventually, such a dream greatly escalated to a point where she managed to enroll herself into a mage school to hone her skills in enchantments and through her connections with her Uncle, Baron Dominique, was able to attend the prestigious Garreg Mach Monastery, otherwise known as the Officer's Academy. Adding more to her luck, Annette was able to be stationed in the same House as her best friend, Mercedes whom she later befriended from the same mage academy.

"Ferdinand!" A voice, undeniably belonging to a female spoke up, gaining the attention of every person.

Annette motioned her head as well, surprised to find a young woman with an air of elegance and beautiful long snow white hair—it was the Leader of the Black Eagles, Edelgard emerging out from the crowd of spectators. Following suit was a tall, dreary man who she quickly identified to be the head supervisor and tactician, Hubert, along with a few notable figures—the singer Dorothea, the hot-blooded Casper, the attentive Petra hailing from Brigid, and lax Linhardt. Even the extremely introverted Bernadetta, who was prone to weasel herself out from confronting others, joined in, though was quick to realize the many eyes on her and immediately clung onto the closest person next to her, who happened to be Petra.

Annette stood there, marveling as she watched the march of the Black Eagles from the sidelines, holding her breath as she found herself dumbstruck by their presence. It wasn't long until she felt the same familiar warmth spawning on her shoulder blade that she was forced to revert back to reality.

"Ann," Mercedes's gentle voice called out to her, nudging her to move forward. "Let's go,"

Adhering her words, the short girl eagerly nodded, allowing her best friend to gently take her hand and lead the way. Peering over her shoulder, Annette watched on, taking notice of Edelgard having a heated argument with Dimitri, with their advisers, Hubert and Dedue forcing themselves on the roles as the peacemakers. Much to her dismay, even the dubbed loser of the training practice, Ferdinand was demanding another rematch to Felix, who seemed quite fired up for the challenge. Eventually, things started to settle down once the Leader of the Golden Deer, Claude appeared, coming to the rescue with his witty remarks and compliments.

Annette bit her lower lip, discarding the heavy tension in the area as she headed back to the main chambers, together with Mercedes and Ingrid.

* * *

Two days passed, with the schedule as mundane as ever—attend classes, practice skills with your chosen weapons, consume supper in the cafeteria with your respective house, and then lounge about in the main chambers until it's time to sleep. There were times when the students were offered additional classes to hone their techniques in battle and while Annette was one of the regulars to participate in them, for some reason, she found herself attracted to the wonders of the training grounds.

The battle she witnessed between Felix and Ferdinand was exhilarating, and even now, the memory of it remained fresh in her mind. She couldn't help but muster a bright smile, her eyes twinkling brightly as she replayed the fight for the umpteenth time.

"I wonder what's it like to wield a sword…" Annette mumbled aloud, though was quick to cover her mouth. Slowly, dawn realization to her.

Now that she thought about it, her house—the Blue Lions was specialized in the demonstration of offense with swords and lances as their primary weapons. And then there was her and a few others, inheriting minor crests, who chose to devote their times experimenting with lesser-known artillery, with Ashe taking up archery while she and her best friend, Mercedes, took up conjuring spells—both defense and offense magic.

Plopping herself on the bed, she lowered her chin, her eyes gazing intently at the thick green book with both hands—in the Mage Academy, each graduate was gifted with a magical tome, inscribed with an endless list of spellbinding magic. She brought her hand to graze the intricate golden trimmings and the large formula on the center.

For as long as she could remember, casting spells was all she knew.

And yet, there was something inside Annette that screamed for her to change her class.

Annette groaned loudly, pursing her lips as she violently removed the elastic hairbands, allowing her medium-length orange hair to cascade freely down her bare shoulders.

"Mercie?"

The ashen brown-haired woman paused on her knitting and peered up to face her best friend. "Yes, Ann?"

"About what I said earlier," Annette began, locking eyes with the latter and sounding determined as ever. "I want to do it. I want to know what it's like to equip a sword,"

Mercedes blinked, processing her words carefully. Finally, she smiled. "You know, it's best to tell Professor Byleth about this new interest of yours," She kindly suggested, "If you're still insistent to change your class, then maybe she'll do something about it,"

Annette beamed. "You really think so?"

When she received a positive nod, Annette clapped her hands together.

Taking notice of her sudden energy, Mercedes quirked an eyebrow. "Ann, what spurred you to want to change?"

Turning back to look at her best friend, Annette frowned. "…What do you mean?"

Clearing her throat, Mercedes began with, "Let me rephrase that—what made you suddenly want to wield another weapon?" She rose from her seat near the window and with her arms folded over her chest, flashed the younger girl with a curious look. "In all my years since I've known you, you've always been strictly magic-based. I mean, you've graduated from the academy as among the top ten promising mages of our year! Desiring to fight with a sword and a lance is certainly new, especially coming from you," Before she could complete the rest of her sentence, the older woman stopped. Slowly, the corners of her lips quirked up. "Unless there's a reason…"

Annette tipped her head to the side, still uncertain as to what exactly she was referring to. It wasn't long until she felt her cheeks burn madly when she noticed her best friend wiggling her eyebrows toward her general direction. Gulping, she quickly whirled her head the other way. "I-It's not what you think, honest!" She cried in defense. "I really wanna know what it's like to change classes!"

Mercedes simply chuckled.

Blushing furiously, Annette immediately raised her arms, waving them in frantic motion. "F-Felix has nothing to do with any of this!" It was already too late. As soon as she said those words, Mercedes widened her eyes and gasped.

Seconds later, Annette quickly covered her red face with a nearby pillow to release a shriek.

Recovering quickly, all Mercedes could do was smile. "Oh my~"

Utterly embarrassed, Annette leaped out from her bed to approach her best friend, playfully hitting her on the shoulder. "Mercie!" She exclaimed, trying to produce a pouty face, only to fail miserably. "It's not what you think!"

The older woman simply smiled, leaning forward to pinch her best friend's cheeks. "You are so cute, Ann~" She commented, giggling merrily. "You've got a crush~"

Annette furrowed her eyebrows, puffing her cheeks which only added more to her adorable charm and for Mercedes to tease her even more. Before she could open her mouth to protest, their ears picked up the sound of light footsteps entering the girl's dormitory.

"What's going on here?"

Both Annette and Mercedes turned to the direction of the voice.

Upon sighting the blonde noble striding into the room donning her nightgown, Mercedes smiled. "Oh, perfect timing, Ingrid~" She sang, choosing to ignore her best friend's intense glaring on her as she wrapped her arms around her waist. "I just heard the most wonderful news!"

Pausing in her tracks, Ingrid raised a questionable eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Ann's growing up, you see," Mercedes points out, jerking her chin to the younger girl who already managed to release herself from her tight grip and was currently burying her crimson face deeper into the pillow clenched in her arms.

Again, Ingrid shot her a confused look. "Growing…up?" She mumbled, quite uncertain. "Care to elaborate?"

Mercedes widened her grin, ushering the latter to come forward. As Ingrid came over, she was quick to lean in and softly whisper the current situation. Two minutes later, and the blonde woman recoiled back, covering her mouth to suppress her growing laughter.

Much to Annette's dismay, Mercedes joined in on the fun.

"You guys are the worst!" Annette wailed, throwing herself back on her bed as she cried in misery.

Once the laughter ceased, Mercedes and Ingrid exchanged knowing looks.

"Annette," Ingrid began, strolling over and settling herself on the edge of the mattress to give her a comforting pat on the head. "There's no need to cry over it,"

"She's right, you know," Mercedes chimed in, coming over and sitting down on the other side of the mattress, opposite to the blonde noble. "It's natural to feel like this,"

Slowly, Annette lifted her chin and motioned her head to face them. "R-really?" She caught them nodding their heads in unison, sighing exasperatedly as she felt the heavy weight on her shoulders beginning to dissipate. Loosening her grip on the pillow, she brought one of her hands to rub her red, puffy eyes and mumbled in a soft voice, "I don't know…of all people, why did it have to be…"

She turned quiet, furrowing her eyebrows as she struggled to find the right words.

"You should tell him how you feel," Mercedes advised her, reaching out to gently stroke her shoulder. "It's not right for you to bottle it in,"

"But…" Annette trailed off, feeling quite shaken. She started to imagine what was like to confess to the swordsman and before she knew it, found herself standing in a spotlight, heartbroken as he laughed at her face, would call her an idiot, and walk away as if nothing happened. What made it even worse was his brash, sarcastic personality—and though they've barely interacted, despite being in the same house, she was aware of his popularity in the monastery among the male and female students, and how almost every week or so, there was bound to be a brave trooper to go up to him and confess…and be rejected on the spot.

She knew how Lord Dimitri, Dedue, and even Professor Byleth would scold him behind closed doors for his poor behavior, urging him over and over again to be a little nicer to them…but of course, Felix would always answer with the usual excuse of 'I prefer being alone' and go back challenging anyone deemed worthy.

"During our youth, Felix was quite the problem child. Even now and then, he can be incorrigible at times, but I know he means well," Ingrid points out, "If he ever rejects you, don't dwell too much on it," Gathering her hands together with hers, she added in, "What matters most is that you were brave enough to express your feelings,"

Annette sniffed, feeling a bit better. "Thanks, Ingrid," And smiled sincerely, "You too, Mercie,"

"That's what friends are for, love," Mercedes assured her, pressing her hand this time on the latter's shoulder and squeezing it. With a pleasant smile, she continued with, "And let me know if he turns you down, okay? I'm sure Ingrid over here would be more than happy to help me raise some hell on him,"

Ingrid was quick to agree, cracking her knuckles. "Oh, I'm definitely down for that," She confirmed with a mischievous grin, "Maybe I'll let Lord Dimitri and Sylvain tag along,"

While Mercedes and Ingrid were too busy scheming on the best alternatives to attack Felix, Annette was left to drown in her own thoughts. She pursed her lips, taking a moment to think it over. Though she was against the idea to convey her feelings, there was also the risk of keeping her emotions bottled in for months and then explode…

Readjusting her sitting position, Annette inhaled a deep breath. Well, she might as well take the first leap. "Okay, I'll do it!" She exclaimed, throwing her arm high into the air. "I'll confess to him tomorrow!"

Mercedes and Ingrid switched their attention to the younger girl and beamed.

"Best go to sleep now so you can have a lot of energy," She suggested, getting up from the bed with Ingrid following seconds after her. Leaning forward, she grasped for the blanket situated at the end of the railing and stretched it toward her best friend who happily took it. "Sweet dreams, Ann," And pecked her best friend lovingly on the forehead.

"You too, Mercie…" Annette replied back, closing her eyes and smiling as she turned the other way. "Good night…"

As Mercedes wandered back to her bed located to the right, Ingrid took this as an opportunity to exchange good nights as well, then took responsibility to blow out the candlestick on the bedside table nearby before ambling back to her own on the left.

Eventually, silence finally nestled in their dormitory.

Almost every night, Annette dreamt of the many formulas she could experiment during her free time, or the next places for her, Mercedes, and Ingrid to enjoy their regular tea time together in the afternoon.

But for the first time, her dream revolved around a certain swordsman…and that alone was enough to keep her awake every now and then, her heart pulsing wildly, and her brain to go haywire.

"Oh, my gods…just kill me now,"

* * *

The bell rang for the third and final time, marking the end of their classes for that day.

As soon as Professor Byleth dismissed them, the students from the Blue Lions were given two full hours of leisure time before supper.

Usually, Annette would use her time to either accompany Mercedes to the church and join her with her daily praying or watch Ingrid as she and Sylvain practice honing their skills on the training grounds.

But not this time.

Today was different as she was on her own to face her dilemma head-on.

Thank the gods for allowing her to have such good friends like Mercedes and Ingrid, who were quick to assure her that they'll be at the church and pray for her sake. And though she immediately panicked upon later discovering that Ashe knew ("it was pretty obvious"), and proceeded to tell Sylvain, Dedue, Lord Dimitri…hell, even to Professor Byleth, who surprised her with a thumbs up for good luck, by then, Annette knew that there was no turning back.

Her housemates were rooting for her in the sidelines (and with her reputation in the house as the class baby, it was guaranteed that poor Felix was in for a rude awakening if he left her crying)

And though she knew, deep down, that in the end, she was likely to be rejected on the spot, all that mattered to her was to be able to tell him how she truly felt.

Not too far away from where she stood was the training grounds, the same place where the three houses would have their usual sparring session. And as expected, Felix was there practicing by his lonesome, striking the wooden dummy multiple times with effortless strife.

Annette hid behind one of the pillars as she watched him in awe.

Shaking her head, the orange-haired girl looked down at her hands, surprised to find them slightly shaking. "Okay, you can do this…" She whispered to herself, heaving another deep breath as she paced around in a circle.

Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, she continued on with her ramble. "I mean, it's just a crush…just a silly, bitty crush. And he's just a guy, who's godly attractive and a really awesome fighter with swords and stuff…but, just a guy! Who just happens to share the same house as you, so of course he knows you, Ann! Yeah, and the two of you were once assigned on that group project to water the gardens so…no introduction! Just get straight to the point, no hesitating or anything of the sort!" Feeling spirited and ready, she smiled, nodded along and continued, "Just…be yourself, and maybe do a friendly wave and such…"

Collecting her hands together, Annette brought them closer to her chest, lowered her chin to recite a small prayer that Mercedes taught her. Full of vigor and energy, she inhaled a deep breath and without hesitation, marched toward the training grounds.

"H-Hey, Felix!"

The second she saw him stop and peer over her shoulder to look at her in the eye, Annette wanted to melt right then and there. She could feel her legs growing weak, her heart thumping loudly against her chest…her mind going blank.

"What are you doing here?"

Biting her lower lip, Annette mustered all the strength she had not to run away.

She completely forgot how frightening he looked up close.

"You've got something to say or what?" Felix spat out, causing her to stiffen in her spot. Placing a hand on his hip, he narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply.

Annette opened her mouth to say something, only to close them halfway. Oh, no, she forgot what she was supposed to tell him!

"What are you waiting for?" Felix exclaimed, growing impatient with her. "Speak up!"

"I KNOW, I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!" Annette suddenly cried, startling both of them. Eyes widening, she quickly brought her hands to close her mouth in embarrassment. Shyly, she snuck a peek at the swordsman who looked back at her with a shocked expression.

"Sorry for my outburst," She apologized, bowing her head. "I didn't mean to— "

"No, no, keep talking," Felix interrupts her, crossing his arms. "You've got my full attention,"

Annette flushed. "Okay then," She began, forcing an amiable grin. "I just wanted to say that…I really, umm…" Suddenly, she found herself at a loss for words. The ten-minute speech she had prepared together with Mercedes and Ingrid, the countless times she had to excuse herself to the bathroom just to practice in front of the mirror…it was gone.

Frantic, she looked around and the first thing she noticed was the sword he held with his dominant right hand. "Your swords!"

Felix glanced over at his weapon at hand and frowned. "Yeah, what about it?"

Recalling his fight with Ferdinand, Annette was quick to reply with, "I really liked the way you fought a few days ago…you know, the one with the weekly sparring practice we would have with the other houses…" She fumbled over her words, doing her best not to abruptly close up or show any weakness in front of him. "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that…well, I wanted to express my gratitude…"

Felix quirked an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For igniting my interest on combat, particularly with swords," Annette went on, taking a step forward. "I was planning to go up to Professor Byleth and ask her if I could change classes for the next raid that's coming up in a few weeks and…"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as her ears picked up a muffled sound coming from the latter. Looking up, Annette bit her lower lip as she watched the swordsman burst into a fit of laughter.

Her confidence to keep conversing with him was dwindling.

No doubt about it, he was laughing at her.

Her vision became glossy, though she refused to break down nor exhibit her vulnerability to him.

"Please tell me you're joking," Felix chuckled, shaking his head.

"…I'm not," Annette spoke out but was unfortunately too quiet to reach him.

In a fit of anger, she scurried over to where the weapons were kept, unsheathed the wooden sword from the rack and returned to her spot. She trained her sights on him, consumed with a mix of emotions. She couldn't take it anymore. No matter what, she wanted to prove to him that she could do it. "I'M NOT KIDDING AROUND!"

"Hey, put that down!" Felix chided, pointing to the weapon she was currently holding. "You're going to hurt yourself— "

Annette charged in with all her might.

Grasping her intentions, Felix ineptly stepped to the side, instigating the former to stumble over her footing and plummeted down on the patching of glass.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Annette shook her head as she attempted to get back on her feet. No, she can't give up…not now. She pressed her hand on her cheek, rubbing the sweat off her skin before diving back in to carry out another surprise attack. "Ahhh!" and just like before, Felix dodged her attack at a nick of time, pulling out his leg which caused her to trip over in the process.

"It takes years to develop mastery with a sword," Felix spoke up, placing the hilt of his sword on his shoulders, "Declaring to wield one all of a sudden won't cut the check,"

Annette got back on her feet, staggering as she attempted to get on her battle stance. The sword in her hand was too foreign for her, and as much as she wanted to prove him wrong, she didn't have the basic knowledge to properly use it.

"…Fine, be that way," Throwing the wooden sword to the ground, Annette was quick to whip out the green enchantment book secured behind her back. "I'll show you what I can do! My own way!"

Opening the contents of her book, a glowing green sphere manifested, engulfing her tiny form in its intricate framework made of ancient formulas. Chanting lowly under her breath, she raised her hand forward, and in a snap of her finger, summoned a large whirlwind to swallow her opponent whole. "Take this!"

Getting into his battle stance, Felix braced himself.

For a tiny girl, she sure can conjure powerful magic on a whim.

"HEY, STOP!" He cried through the mist of the howling gales. When he became aware that she wasn't listening to him, he clenched his teeth. "Stop this, NOW!" Rushing forward, he swung his sword, slashing at the whirlwind encircling him…though in the end, still managed to get a few cuts across his cheeks due to the sheer intensity of the winds.

It wasn't long until Annette finally calmed down and came to her senses, gradually dispersing the whirlwind. Heaving deeply, she caught sight of the swordsman who was no longer stuck inside the vortex and yet, remained standing victoriously.

Once again, Annette couldn't match up to him.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Annette cried at the top of her lungs, hugging her enchantment book closer to her chest. "UGHHH…. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!"

Realizing what she just said, Annette closed her eyes shut, covering her ears in hopes to block out the world around her. She dropped to her knees, shaking her head a few times as she tried to compose herself.

No matter how much she suppressed the urge to snap, in the end, it finally happened. And now, all she had to do was wait for those words to come out from his mouth and hear him walk away.

"Hey, get up,"

No response.

"I said get up— "

Annette sighed in defeat, "I heard you, so stop shouting, geez…" Standing up from the ground, she quickly wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "I don't care anymore…I mean, what's the point? You'll reject me like everyone else, right?" She looked up to face the swordsman who stared back at her with his eyebrows pitched together. "I'm okay being your housemate, so…"

Inhaling another deep breath, she dusted the dirt on her skirt and said, "It's gonna take some time, maybe a few buckets of ice cream and punching bags to get over you…" Looking back at him, she forced a smile and reached out her hand for him to accept. "It's okay if you can't accept them, but can we at least try to be friends?"

Felix stared at her, shifted his eyes to glance at her awaiting hand and frowned. "What?"

Masking her heartbreak, Annette forced a light-hearted giggle. "I said, I have a crush on you," She admitted, raising her voice a little louder, followed by a bittersweet grin. "And I don't care if you reject me …but I want to at least start over and be friends with you if that's okay,"

The swordsman clicked his tongue, raking his hair through his hair. "I didn't…" He trailed off, quickly averting his eyes the other way and quietly muttered a few words.

Annette blinked. "What did you say?" She blurted aloud, startling him as she leaned in a bit too close for his comfort. "Speak a little louder, please!"

To her surprise, the swordsman looked back at her and grinned. "I said," He began, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "I didn't reject you," Withdrawing back, he rolled his eyes when he caught her frozen with her mouth dropped open. "I'll consider helping you practice the sword if you're still up for it," He started walking away, though paused in his tracks to look over his shoulder to add in, "But if I were you, I'll stick with magic," A tiny smirk appeared across his lips. "You have talent, I'll give you that,"

Annette stood there, unable to properly register what he told her. Each time she recalled his words over and over again in her head, the more she blushed ferociously.

"Hey, wait!" She cried, turning around and quickened her pace to catch up to him. "Felix!" She ran a bit faster, maybe a little too fast as she sprinted ahead of him, twirling around quickly and dashing back until she stood in front of him. Panting heavily, she looked up but before she could properly face him, felt something jabbed on her forehead. Quickly, she brought her hands to nurse the stinging pain, closing her eyes shut as she whimpered in her spot. "Hey, what was that for— "

And then she saw it.

It was faint and subtle, but it was definitely there—despite being renowned to have a poker face both in school and in the battlefield, the tips of his ears were burning red. Her eyes widened, her mouth partly opened upon her new discovery.

She took a step forward, ready to speak but Felix beat her to it.

"You're annoying, you know that?" He uttered lowly, loud enough for her to hear.

Annette stood there, completely dumbstruck. Expecting another rejection from him, instead, the cold feeling inside her was replaced by a warm sensation. She couldn't help but smile.

Silence ensued between them, with no words exchanged.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Felix turned to sneak a peek at her, surprised to find the younger girl brightly smiling at him. "What's up with you?"

Annette emitted a light-hearted giggle. "Nothing~" Releasing her hands from her forehead, she proceeded to go on her tiptoes and poked him lightly on the cheek. "You're just so cute!"

Registering her words, the swordsman froze, his face completely crimson. Shaping his hands into fists, he suddenly cried, "Shut up, shortie!" And practically sprinted out the training grounds.

Annette widened her grin as all she could do was stare at his retreating figure. She looked down at the enchantment book she held in her arms. Ignoring the burning sensation grazing her cheeks, she couldn't help but release a light giggle. Consumed with excitement, she took a step forward, then another, and another, smiling brightly.

For a while now, she was always watching him from a distance.

"Maybe it's my turn," She told herself, her voice brimming with confidence. "For you to watch me,"

With her head held high, she hurried straight for the direction of the church where her friends were waiting for her, unknownst to a pair of amber eyes quietly observing her from afar before disappearing into the great halls.

* * *

**And that's it for the fanfiction!**  
**What do you think? I'm usually writing for other fandoms, so please bear with me!**

**I would also like to give a major shoutout to letters-from-the-three-houses, bae-leth, and withlove-so from tumblr to thank them for keeping the fire emblem three houses fandom alive with their wonderful headcanons!**

**Please leave any kudos/comments if you'd like!**  
**Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day!**


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